It was hardy eating for mosquitoes this weekend, and their meal of choice – Winnipeggers.
The city’s wet weather has led to a spike in the mosquito population, and with more rain in the forecast, the swarms are expected to keep on growing.
“I haven’t quit swiping yet since we got out of the car,” said Mike Rennick, as he swatted a mosquito on his arm while walking in Kildonan Park Monday.
“Just the past week, we’ve noticed a big difference,” Lorraine Rennick said, walking beside him.
Entomologist Taz Stuart said rainy weather has led to a jump in mosquito counts in Winnipeg.
“Standing water then helps create more mosquitoes out there, and people aren’t used to it,” he said. “We’ve had five, six years of great non-mosquito years.”
According to city data – the average mosquito trap count spiked last week from around six mosquitoes as of last Monday to 25 this Monday. Though parts of the city like North Kildonan are seeing well over 100 mosquitoes per trap.
“I’ve actually been doing some jobs around and yeah, some backyards are in the thousands,” Stuart said.
The spike led to a busy weekend at the Pollock’s Hardware Co-op on Main Street, which was hosting an outdoor summer market. Mosquitoes were unwelcome guests.
“We were selling out the OFF sprays as well as the mosquito coils to try to shy them away from the area, and most of the customers were quite appreciative that we had it,” Logan Szunyog told CTV News.
He said with more rain on the way, Pollock’s is stocking up for a busy summer, and exploring more natural options for mosquito repellent for customers.
When it comes to battling the buzzing blood-suckers, some Winnipeggers are planning to get creative.
“I did hear if you use vanilla extract, that sometimes helps – and then burning coffee grounds, I heard was another way to do it,” said Jeff Coote, who said an outing to Birds Hill Park over the weekend was cut short due to the swarms.
“Bug spray doesn’t seem to even work on them. There’s kind of super mosquitoes here in Winnipeg.”
Stuart still suggests sticking with the official commercial bug spray options, but he said the best way to get rid of mosquitoes is by cutting them off at the source – standing water.
“A standard cup size of water – a couple 100 easily can come out of that cup of water as long as there’s a food source for the larva.”
He suggests draining, dumping or covering any standing water in your yard, even plugged eves troughs can be a breeding ground.
